Spreading the word to future Gamecocks

As a University Ambassador for the past four years, Brooke Carroll has fielded questions about everything from balancing classwork to choosing housing. And her biggest message to prospective students and their families on tour: “You will have every opportunity here. And there will be so many people here behind you to help you be whatever you want to be.”

That’s the message she took away from her visit five years ago, when the Indiana native was looking at colleges around the country. She was surprised by what she heard during her tour of Carolina – opportunities for study abroad, for undergraduate research, for leadership roles. She took advantage of it all.

“It was the Gamecock spirit that attracted me. Not just sports, but the whole spirit around the university. It caught me and made me fall in love with the university,” says Carroll, who graduated in May from the South Carolina Honors College with a degree in biomedical engineering and a concentration in English literature. She is working one final summer as an ambassador before heading to a surgical internship at the University of California-Davis, followed by a six-month internship in Tanzania and medical school.

“I tell people on my tours that I had a challenging major, I did undergraduate research, I studied abroad and I went to every home football game,” Carroll says. “I don’t think it gets any better than that.”

Because of her commitment to the university and her role as an ambassador, Carroll was inducted into USC’s Hall of Leaders, an honorary society designed to recognize leaders of major campus-wide student organizations. Members are nominated and chosen by the organization each represents, based on their leadership in the organization, contributions to the USC community and their ability to encourage and motivate others.

“Brooke is the perfect choice. She has a beautiful servant heart that cares so much for her university. Anything she can do to give back to her university, she will,” says Denise Wellman, director of the USC Visitor Center. “We were proud she was our first inductee to the Hall of Leaders. True ambassadors don’t steal the light, they want to give it to the university and to our visitors. That’s how Brooke’s wired.”

Carroll admits that she wasn’t quite so outgoing when she arrived at Carolina as a freshman. “I was so shy when I came here. I ducked into my shell. But all the opportunities and all I learned here gave me the confidence I needed to shine my light outward,” she says. “I love walking away from a tour, knowing that I showed someone that everything they want to do they can do here. When a family finishes a tour and feels they can be who they want to be at this university – that’s a great feeling.

“When you find things you love there’s not a lot that can stop you. And I love being here every day.”